Language

Daniel Everett

A groundbreaking and controversial new theory about how we talk.

Like other tools, language was invented, can be reinvented or lost, and shows significant variation across cultures. It's as essential to survival as fire - and, like fire, is found in all human societies.Languagepresents the bold and controversial idea that language is not an innate component of the brain, as has been famously argued...

Gallipoli

Peter Hart

A gripping, revisionist account of an epic tragedy, the battle of Gallipoli.

'The scene was tragically macabre: the image of desolation, the flames spared nothing. As for our young men, a few minutes ago, so alert, so self-confident, all now lying dead on the bare deck, blackened burned skeletons, twisted in all directions, no trace of any clothing, the fire having devoured all.'Vice Admiral P...

Noise: A Human History of Sound and Listening

David Hendy

Based on a major BBC Radio 4 series, David Hendy explores the role of sound - and of listening - in ...

In prehistoric caves, drummers used natural acoustics to recreate natural sound. In classical Europe, orators turned the human voice into a lyrical instrument. In Buddhist temples, the icons'ears were exaggerated to represent their spiritual power. And in modern ...

Feeding Frenzy

Paul McMahon

Can the world feed itself?

Feeding Frenzytraces the history of the global food system and reveals the underlying causes of recent turmoil in food markets. Supplies are running short, prices keep spiking and the media is full of talk of a'world food crisis'. Food-producing countries are banning exports even if this means starving their neighbours. Governments and corporations are scrambling to ...

Confronting the Classics

Mary Beard

Drawing on thirty years of writing about Greek and Roman history, Mary Beard takes us on an ...

Mary Beard is one of the world's best-known classicists - a brilliant academic, with a rare gift for communicating with a wide audience both though her TV presenting and her books.In a series of sparkling essays, she explores our rich classical ...

The Great Mathematical Problems

Ian Stewart

Ian Stewart reveals the really big questions that take us to the limits of mathematics.

There are some mathematical problems whose significance goes beyond the ordinary - like Fermat's Last Theorem or Goldbach's Conjecture - they are the enigmas which define mathematics.The Great Mathematical Problemsexplains why these problems exist, why they matter, what drives mathematicians to incredible ...

The Customer Rules

Lee Cockerell

39 essential rules to delivering impeccable service - from the man who ran Disneyworld.

Today, consumers have more choice than ever before. It's no longer enough to simply provide a service - companies who want to stay in business must also provideimpeccableservice with such consistency, integrity and creativity that people who experience it will not only keep coming back for more, but recommend ...

Africa's Future: Darkness to Destiny

Duncan Clarke

One of the world's leading strategists on global oil exploration puts forward a unique reformulation...

Many seek to"fix"Africa - economists, experts, politicians, gurus, cognoscenti and glitterati. But the continent conceals multiple secrets, including the Holy Grail: explanations of its saga over the previous centuries.Africa's Futuretells the tale ...

The Tail

Paul Marshall

At the heart of the debate about state-provided education in the UK lies a shocking fact: one child in five leaves school in England without basic skills in literacy and numeracy. Despite the best efforts of reformers and rapidly improving results in academies and elsewhere, even some of the best schools are struggling to help the'tail'- the lowest-achieving twenty or thirty per cent of pupils. ...

The Measure of Civilisation

Ian Morris

A unique insight into the index of social development that measures change in East and West - and ...

InWhy the West Rules - For NowIan Morris argues that to understand the development of East and West, we need to look beyond'long-term lock-in'theories (that suggest it was inevitable) and'short-term accident'theories. Instead, we need to measure ...

Up Pohnpei

Paul Watson

Penguins Stopped PlaymeetsCool Runningsin this hilarious and uplifting true story of footballing ...

After one too many late night discussions, football journalist Paul Watson and his mate Matthew Conrad decide to find the world's worst national team, become naturalised citizens of that country and play for them - achieving their joint boyhood dream...